The RAF Red Arrows Display Team formed in 1965 and flew the Folland Gnat until its retirement in 1979. The Gnat’s replacement was the BAE Systems Hawk T1 (Trainer Mk.1) which entered RAF service in late 1976. The Red Arrows, who had been preparing to convert for some time, received their first Hawk T1 (XX251) on 16 August 1979.
The remarkable fuel efficiency of the Hawk brought a new dimension to the way the team could operate. No longer did they need to operate from a base close to the display site and performing at two displays in the in flight could now be accomplished. The downside, quoted by Flt Lt Bob Lewis, the team’s Engineering Officer 1977-1980, was that the were fewer ‘back seat’ rides and overnight stays!
The team’s Hawk aircraft were painted in a distinctive Signal Red, a brighter red to that of the Post Office Red used on the earlier Gnat Red Arrows and Jet Provosts of the Red Pelicans. Mirroring the MOD changes insisted on for the Gnats in 1979, the Hawks were also painted with a white centre-line flash bearing the CFS badge and Royal Air Force title on the forward fuselage.
The Hawk Red Arrow’s first public display was at Episkopi in Cyprus on 10 March 1980. On 17 May 1980 the the team suffered its first Hawk write-off when Sqd Ldr Steve Johnson struck the mast of a yacht along the seafront in Brighton. He ejected safely but the accident led to a subsequent ban on all display flying below 100 feet!
In May 1983, the Red Arrows relocated from RAF Kemble in Gloucestershire, their base since 1966, to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire where, despite occasional attempts to suspend the team, they remain to represent the very best the RAF and UK aerospace industry, and is acknowledged as one of the world’s premier aerobatic teams.
I built my Hawk from Airfix’s 2019 release of their 1:72 scale Starter Set selecting aircraft serial XX322 from the 9 provided. This was the number given to the Hawk T1 delivered to the RAF on 24 November 1980. In March 1984 it was then one of 89 which underwent T.1A conversion to replace the Hawker Hunter training pilots at the RAF Tactical Weapons Units (TWU).
This conversion was made to enable the Hawk to carry two underwing AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a centreline Aden gun pod. The underbody gun pod was replaced on the Red Arrows with a fairing used to carry diesel fuel and dye for the display smoke system. XX322 remained with 151 SQN, 2 TWU, RAF Chivenor until January 2001 when it was transferred to the Royal Navy where it served for 9 years with their Fleet Requirements and Air Direction Unit (FRADU) at RNAS Culdrose. FRADU provided training for the Royal Navy by conducting simulated attacks on Royal Navy ships.
In July 2010, now 30 years old, XX322 received its call up to the Red Arrows at RAF Scampton, having moved from their original base at RAF Kemble in 1983 (I remember flying Chipmunks out of RAF Kemble in the early 1980s with the Air Cadets and having to land PDQ to clear the airspace for the incoming Red Arrows! My claim to fame - flying a Chipmunk with the Red Arrows!!).
It is testament to the quality of this aircraft that now, at over 40 years old, it is still being put through some of the most rigorous manoeuvres required of any aircraft; serving its pilots 3-4 times as long as its Gnat predecessor, how amazing is that!
Interestingly, during the North American Tour, August – October 2019, XX322 was flown by Squadron Leader Martin Pert, in his final year leading the team as Red #1. This was the first time the Red Arrows had been to North America since 2008 and was the team’s largest ever visit to Canada and the United States. As part of the Hornby enterprise, Corgi have also produced a diecast model, Ref AA36017, of Red Arrows Hawk XX322 in the U.S. Tour 2019 Scheme, available on Summer 2021 pre-order for princely cost of £49.99!
